As snow continued to fall on the country's biggest city Istanbul, roads leading to several suburbs on the European side of the Bosphorus Strait which cuts through Istanbul were blocked, the Anatolia news agency said.

City authorities underlined that the main arteries were open as some 3,000 municipal employees worked round the clock to clean up the snow, which has disrupted already chaotic traffic.

Education Minister Huseyin Celik announced late Wednesday a one-week extension of the mid-term holiday for schools across the country.

Intemperate weather has also hit air and maritime traffic.

Several domestic flights to the east of the country have been cancelled as officials expanded efforts to keep runways operational.

Ferry services across the Bosphorus in Istanbul were also been disrupted.

Five people have died of hypothermia since Saturday.

Meteorologists say snowfall will decrease by Friday, but warn that the icy cold weather will continue, with temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 Fahrenheit) expected in the capital Ankara at the weekend.

Some 10,000 small villages and enclaves have been cut off from road transport, and several hundred are without electricity or telephone service.

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